Advancements in science and technology have not only brought hope to humankind to produce disease-free offspring, but also offer possibilities to genetically enhance the next generation’s traits and capacities. Human genetic enhancement, however, raises complex ethical questions, such as to what extent should it be allowed? It has been a great challenge for humankind to develop robust ethical guidelines for human genetic enhancement that address both public concerns and needs. We believe that research about public concerns is necessary prior to (...) developing such guidelines, yet the issues have not been thoroughly investigated in many countries, including Malaysia. Since the novel often functions as a medium for the public to express their concerns, this paper explores ethical concerns about human genetic enhancement expressed in four Malay science fiction novels namely Klon, Leksikon Ledang, Transgenesis Bisikan Rimba and Transgenik Sifar. Religion has a strong influence on the worldview of the Malays therefore some concerns such as playing God are obviously religious. Association of the negative image of scientists as well as the private research companies with the research on human genetic enhancement reflects the authors’ concerns about the main motivations for conducting such research and the extent to which such research will benefit society. (shrink)

The comparative analysis of Hesychasm in the late Byzantine Orthodox Church and Sufism in the Islamic tradition illuminates intriguing parallels and distinctions in their spiritual frameworks. Emphasizing the significance of spiritual experiences through prayer, Hesychasm, rooted in Orthodox spirituality, focuses on hesychia and the prayer of the heart. Sufism, within the Islamic tradition, centers on dhikr, the continuous remembrance of Allah. Despite shared teachings on the heart and continuous prayer, the traditions diverge in practices, such as the Jesus Prayer in (...) Hesychasm and the invocation of Allah's name in Sufism, contributing to the rich tapestry of spiritual experiences. This comparative exploration offers nuanced insights into diverse ways spiritual seekers engage with the divine across cultures. Recognizing universal quests for connection with the transcendent, the analysis contributes to the broader dialogue on mysticism and spirituality. The discussions on divine light, knowledge of God, and transformative processes underscore shared themes, while differences in theological nuances highlight the unique paths individuals traverse in their spiritual journeys. Ultimately, both Hesychasm and Sufism emphasize the experiential dimension of spirituality, fostering profound encounters with the divine despite their theological and philosophical distinctions. (shrink)

Investigating how a number of modern empires transform over the long century (1789-1914) as a consequence of their struggle for ascendancy in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, Foundations of Modernity: Human Agency and the Imperial State moves the study of the modern empire towards a comparative, trans-regional analysis of events along the Ottoman frontiers: Western Balkans, the Persian Gulf and Yemen. This inter-disciplinary approach of studying events at different ends of the Ottoman Empire challenges previous emphasis on Europe as (...) the only source of change and highlights the progression of modern imperial states.The book introduces an entirely new analytical approach to the study of modern state power and the social consequences to the interaction between long-ignored "historical agents" like pirates, smugglers, refugees, and the rural poor. In this respect, the roots of the most fundamental institutions and bureaucratic practices associated with the modern state prove to be the by-products of certain kinds of productive exchange long categorized in negative terms in post-colonial and mainstream scholarship. Such a challenge to conventional methods of historical and social scientific analysis is reinforced by the novel use of the work of Louis Althusser, Talal Asad, William Connolly and Frederick Cooper, whose challenges to scholarly conventions will prove helpful in changing how we understand the origins of our modern world and thus talk about Modernity. This book offers a methodological and historiographic intervention meant to challenge conventional studies of the modern era"--Provided by publisher. (shrink)

Feminist scholars reacted to news of Beauvoir's death in 1986 by initiating a reevaluation of her life's work, a task encouraged by Sylvie Le Bon de Beauvoir, her adopted daughter, who edited for posthumous publication many of Beauvoir's personal notebooks and letters to Sartre. Some of the most exciting new interpretations of Beauvoir's philosophy that have resulted are brought together here for the first time; many of them, indeed, were written expressly for this first volume of essays on Beauvoir's philosophy (...) written since her death. (shrink)

The recent development of CRISPR/Cas9 technology has rekindled the ethical debate concerning human germline modification that has begun decades ago. This inexpensive technology shows tremendous promise in disease prevention strategies, while raising complex ethical concerns about safety and efficacy of the technology, human dignity, tampering with God’s creation, and human genetic enhancement. Germline gene editing may result in heritable changes in the human genome, therefore the question of whether it should be allowed requires deep and careful discussion from various perspectives. (...) This paper explores Islamic perspectives on the concerns raised and highlights the ethical principles in Islam that should be taken into consideration when assessing the permissibility of CRISPR/ Cas9-mediated human germline gene editing. As argued in this paper, human germline gene editing would be considered lawful for medical purpose under certain conditions. It should not be applied on humans until the safety and efficacy issues are resolved. Robust ethical guidelines and strict regulations are necessary to preserve human dignity and to prevent premature and misuse of the technology. Maqasid al-shariah’s principles of preservation of human life, lineage, and dignity and ‘preventing harm takes precedence over securing benefit’ are among the guiding principles in assessing the permissibility of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated human germline editing from an Islamic perspective. Further discussions are important to address the controversies as well as to explore the related ethical principles. (shrink)

The negotiations with the Ottomans over how exactly to define the boundary separating each party's domain were largely confused by a completely different set of criteria. The Ottomans constantly argued that the areas they claimed had historically and thus always formed part of the Ottoman territory. They installed troops in the areas in dispute and actually started to collect taxes, in part thanks to Muqbil's aggressive alliance-building. The longer this physical presence was maintained, the more difficult it was for the (...) British to argue that these areas were actually Dali. It was largely the growing insurgency in Ottoman Yemen, in some respects a product of British machinations, that ultimately led to the 1903 capitulation by the Ottoman authorities to British demands for formal control of the Dali plateau. (shrink)

Einstein, Descartes, Locke, Bohr, Rorty, Berkeley, Hume, Kant -magical names When we step on an airplane, turn the key in the ignition, or switch on an air conditioner we - not just academicians - all agree that the ideas of these far-sighted sages of the Enlightenment and Modernism saved us from the Medieval life. But, as the author shows, if we fully accept their ideas a drastic change in our world-view ensues. Fred Bauer has been examining the great minds (...) for many years, and in easily understood terms gives us a surely amazing Grand Unifying Theory. Of course, he gives ample reasons why we each have to choose for ourselves - rejecting or accepting concepts. In any case, The Wonderful Myth Called Science poses an exciting and at times an emotionally challenging exploration of science and living. (shrink)

The discovery and invention of new medical applications may be considered blessings to humankind. However, some applications which might be the only remedy for certain diseases may contain ingredients or involve methods that are not in harmony with certain cultural and religious perspectives. These situations have raised important questions in medical ethics; are these applications completely prohibited according to these perspectives, and is there any room for mitigation? This paper explores the concept of darurah and its deliberation in the formulation (...) of fatwas on medicine issued by the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia. Darurah has explicitly been taken into consideration in the formulation of 14 out of 45 fatwas on medicine thus far, including one of the latest fatwas regarding uterine donation and transplantation. These fatwas are not only limited to the issues regarding the use of unlawful things as remedies. They include issues pertaining to organ transplantation, management of the corpse and treatment of brain dead patients. While deliberation of darurah in medicine may vary from issue to issue, darurah applies in a dire situation in which there are no lawful means to prevent harm that may be inflicted upon human life. Nevertheless, other aspects must also be taken into the deliberation. For example, consent must be obtained from the donor or his next of kin to conduct a cadaveric organ transplantation. (shrink)

Theism in Indic philosophy from the point of view of Christianity.

This paper describes maslahah, a fundamental concept in Islam and its application in deliberating permissibility of human germline gene editing from an Islamic perspective. This paper refers to He Jiankui’s research that led to the birth of the world’s first gene edited babies, who were edited to be protected from HIV. The objective, procedure, and output of the research were assessed against the conditions of maslahah. It can be concluded that the experiment did not meet the conditions; it is inconsistent (...) with the objectives of shariah and some fundamental Islamic teachings that it did not preserve greater benefit, hence it could be considered impermissible. (shrink)

Compartilha resultados de pesquisa exploratória para aplicação do modelo de regime de informação ao conjunto das 14 edições dos Anais do Colóquio Habermas, evento de comunicação científica na área de Ciência da Informação. Trata-se de pesquisa descritiva e documental, apoiada no método indiciário (Ginzburg) e na técnica do brauseio (Araújo), realizada nos arquivos dos Anais dos Colóquios no período de 2009 a 2022. Adota a abordagem do regime de informação na perspectiva de González de Gómez, apresentando seus elementos — atores (...) sociais, ações, dispositivos e artefatos de informação — no contexto da forma de vida da comunidade científica. Descreve as interações entre os elementos do regime de informação do Colóquio Habermas desde a criação, por atores sociais, de um valor de informação (estrato semântico-pragmático) à conformação das regras em dispositivos (estrato meta-informacional) e o compartilhamento dos resultados mediante artefatos digitais (infraestruturas de informação). Foram identificados quatro grupos de atores sociais no conjunto de participantes dos Colóquios Habermas: (a) os que participam desde o início; (b) os que começaram a participar em meados da série histórica; (c) os que começaram a participar recentemente, mantendo regularidade na participação; e (d) os que participaram apenas uma vez. Em uma análise preliminar, entende-se que através da realização dos Colóquios e da publicação dos Anais os resultados da pesquisa científica foram compartilhados e discutidos por uma comunidade qualificada, propiciando a criação de novos conhecimentos na Ciência da Informação. (shrink)

Die Philosophische Fakultat der Berliner Universitat stellte im Jahr 1828 eine Preisaufgabe, an deren Losung alle Studenten der Universitat teilnehmen konnten. Einem Vorschlag Hegels folgend ging es um eine Auseinandersetzung mit den "Prinzipien des Schonen" bei Kant. Nach anonymer Bewertung der eingegangenen Arbeiten wurde die von Bruno Bauer mit dem Preis geehrt. Wahrend die im Laufe der Jahre gestellten Aufgaben und erteilten Gutachten fast vollstandig erhalten sind, ist das Vorhandensein der von Bauer handschriftlich in lateinischer Sprache verfaten Arbeit (...) eine wissenschaftliche Raritat. Diese Schrift, deren Original sich im Archiv der Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin befindet, wird hier erstmals publiziert. Eingeleitet durch eine philosophiegeschichtliche Betrachtung der Quelle (D. Moggach) und eine historische Einordnung der Preisschrift (W. Schultze) gestattet die synchrone Gegenuberstellung von lateinischem und deutschem Text dem Leser ein kritisches Studium der Quelle. Dieser Band soll den Auftakt fur weitere Publikationen wissenschaftlich und wissenschaftshistorisch interessanter Quellen des Archivs der Humboldt-Universitat bilden. (shrink)

The field of bioethics aims to ensure that modern scientific and technological advancements have been primarily developed for the benefits of humankind. This field is deeply rooted in the traditions of Western moral philosophy and socio-political theory. With respect to the view that the practice of bioethics in certain community should incorporate religious and cultural elements, this paper attempts to expound bioethical tradition of the Malay-Muslim community in Malaysia, with shedding light on the mechanism used by the National Fatwa Council (...) to evaluate whether an application of biological sciences is ethical or not. By using the application of the genetically modified food as a case study, this study has found that the council had reviewed the basic guidelines in the main references of shari'ah in order to make decision on the permissibility of the application. The fatwa is made after having consultation with the experts in science field. The council has taken all factors into consideration and given priority to the general aim of shari'ah which to serve the interests of mankind and to save them from harm. (shrink)

Advancement of modern agricultural biotechnology has brought various potential benefits to humankind, but at the same time ethical concerns regarding some applications such as genetically modified foods have been raised among the public. Several questions are being posed; should they utilize such applications to improve quality of their life, or should they refrain in order to save themselves from any associated risk? What are the ethical principles that can be applied to assess these applications? By using GMF as a case (...) study, this paper discusses possible answers to these questions from Islamic perspective. Such answers are based on the understanding of the Islamic concept of maslahah and mafsadah as well as the Islamic principles of priority. There is no specific GMF that has been declared as unlawful by Muslim scholars thus far. Nevertheless, they generally state that any GMF that contains unlawful substance is prohibited in Islam. Such statement can be understood since Islam puts highest priority to preserve shari’ah which prescribes the lawful and unlawful things in human life. Priorities have also been given to preserve human health and environment therefore any GMF that may inflict harm on both entities is also considered as unlawful. (shrink)

In this article I examine the architecture and architectural thinking of Finnish Academician Reima Pietilä in relation to his design methodology. Pietilä was an architect with an original, creative, artistic personality, who set out early in his career to develop the form language, and theory of modern architecture, moving it towards an organic expressionism. Finnish nature mysticism was a source of inspiration for him, and ‘nature architecture’ one of his key concepts.

Apresenta resultados de pesquisa sobre emergência de produção científica publicada em periódicos sobre a temática no campo da Ciência da Informação, no Brasil. Discorre sobre o contexto teórico das ciências sociais e o modelo de rede conceitual proposto por Wersig (1993) para a Ciência da Informação. Relata o processo de pesquisa, que adotou o método indiciário e o brauseio como instrumentos para a identificação dos indícios de produção sobre a temática na literatura indexada pela Base de Dados Referencial de Artigos (...) de Periódicos em Ciência da Informação - Brapci. Conclui que nos últimos 13 anos a produção sobre a temática vem crescendo na literatura brasileira, em número de autores e artigos, os quais abordam temas relacionados à epistemologia (responsabilidade social como fundamento da Ciência da Informação), à teoria (ações de política e gestão na sociedade da informação) e da aplicação (em unidades e para profissionais da informação). (shrink)

Investiga a produção científica na temática Epistemologia e Historiografia da Ciência da informação a partir dos Anais do Encontro Nacional de Pesquisa em Ciência da informação, de dados da Plataforma Lattes e da literatura indexada na Base de Dados da Ciência da informação. Identifica o coletivo de pesquisadores que dão continuidade e consistência ao trabalho epistemológico e historiográfico da área. Destaca, na temática abordada, um grupo que consegue produzir mais que a maioria dos demais pesquisadores. Pesquisadores com alunos na pós-graduação (...) tendem a publicar mais artigos em colaboração do que os outros autores que se não encaixam nesse perfil. Os resultados permitiram a descrição de perfis de pesquisadores a partir de um recorte. Conclui que as pesquisas sobre a referida temática, alinhadas aos preceitos dos estudos métricos, podem permitir o desenvolvimento de teias conceituais e metodológicas da Ciência da Informação. (shrink)

Recently some bioethicists and neuroscientists have argued for an imperative of chemical cognitive enhancement. This imperative is usually based on consequentialist grounds. In this paper, the topic of cognitive self-enhancement is discussed from a Kantian point of view in order to shed new light on the controversial debate. With Kant, it is an imperfect duty to oneself to strive for perfecting one’s own natural and moral capacities beyond one’s natural condition, but there is no duty to enhance others. A Kantian (...) approach does not directly lead to a duty of chemical cognitive self-enhancement, but it also does not clearly rule out that this type of enhancement can be an appropriate means to the end of self-improvement. The paper shows the benefits of a Kantian view, which offers a consistent ideal of self-perfection and teaches us a lesson about the crucial relevance of the attitude that underlies one’s striving for cognitive self-improvement: the lesson of treating oneself as an end in itself and not as mere means to the end of better output. (shrink)

Esta é a terceira vez que tenho a honra de participar dos Colóquios Habermas, o qual tem propiciado aos pesquisadores da Ciência da Informação, no Brasil, um encontro com o pensamento do filósofo e sociólogo Jürgen Habermas. No processo, aprendi com meus colegas pesquisadores e entrei na rede de conexões conceituais que tece o fio de Habermas no tear conceitual da Ciência da Informação, no Brasil. Começou em 2020, quando compartilhei o resultado de exercício sobre o conceito de esfera pública (...) aplicado no Laboratório de Tecnologias Intelectuais – LTi. Na revisão da literatura, na Brapci, usando, identifiquei 94 artigos que fazem menção ao descritor, no período de 1972 a 2020. Alguns desses artigos me ajudaram a compreender o conceito e aplicá-lo às ações de mediação no Portal do LTi na web. Uma nova busca, combinando tornou-se necessária, sendo recuperados apenas oito arquivos. O entendimento, ao final, é que as redes sociais do LTi podem ser consideradas como esfera pública, embora não apresentem o aspecto político partidário presente na abordagem habermasiana. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Response To June Boyce-Tillman, “Towards an Ecology of Music Education”Elizabeth BauerJune Boyce-Tillman explores the values implicit in the Western musical traditions that also dominate music education. She examines the five interlocking areas of materials, expression, construction, values, and spirituality and how these areas create a more holistic way of conceptualizing the musical experience within music education. By describing the divide between the values of system A and system B, (...) Boyce-Tillman reminds us that these issues are persistent and demand our constant attention as music educators. She supports the conviction that music [End Page 186] curricula should not be dictated by a national curriculum. Instead, education should be a powerful way of supporting the dominant value system of a culture. As an educator focusing on the population of students with special needs, I find myself agreeing with her advocacy of holistic education and suggest that she look at the model of special education to implement this ecology of music education. Boyce-Tillman's proposal evokes a number of responses, of which I will mention two.My first response is to her belief in the individual within the community. This is often problematic in current educational circles. States and countries are being held to standardized curricula. While in and of themselves standards are not bad because they set educational expectations, dictated curricula do not allow for individuality and creativity. Special education addresses this problem by the use of an individualized education plan (IEP). This plan is devised to meet the abilities and capabilities of each individual student. An IEP states the educational goals for the student with special needs for one academic year. Although the IEP contains year-long educational goals, it also contains the methods for how a student will meet those goals. No two students with special needs will have the same educational curriculum. This idea is supported by humanistic ideas in that the individual child is more important than a fixed curriculum. Furthermore, the IEP is developed by all teachers working with the child. For example, a child with Down syndrome normally works with a speech therapist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, general education teacher, and several other subject specific teachers (music, art, physical education, and so on). During the creation of the IEP, all therapists and teachers work together to devise the best educational plan for the student. This helps to ensure continuity between therapies and teaching methods.Currently, many music teachers are excluded from the process of devising the IEP. This also supports Boyce-Tillman's ideas on how national curricula often support the dominant value systems and reinforce the notion of subjugating other value systems. However, I propose that the inclusion of the music teacher in the IEP process because music class is one of the easiest ways to make the student with special needs feel part of a community. The music classroom supports the idea of working together to accomplish a common goal.My second response relates to the valuing of process. While Western culture has typically placed value on product, the converse is true in special education. Throughout the devising of the IEP, the process of learning is valued. Although special education teachers have an ultimate goal for what the student is to accomplish, it is more important to examine the process of how the student achieves that goal. Furthermore, students with special needs are not given rigid time-lines in which they have to accomplish a goal. Instead, a student is allowed to move at his or her own pace. [End Page 187]Moreover, while the students with special needs are moving at their own pace, they are also nurtured by the teacher. In the United States it is common for students with special needs to be educated in the classroom with their nondisabled peers. This is referred to as inclusion. For certain parts of the day, the students with special needs may leave the regular classroom and receive tutoring in certain subject areas by the special education teacher. Many teachers who do not have experience in teaching students with special needs have noticed how the students with special needs achieve more when they are with their special education... (shrink)

A review of the paradigms of social influence – suggestion, imitation, normalization, conformity, compliance, conversion – leads me to diagnose a triple malaise: the shrinkage of paradigms to cognitive dual-processing theories of information; the dominant methodology of laboratory experiments falls short of the reality of (mass) communication; and the focus of social influence on inter-subjectivity is only half of the story. I will suggest two extensions of social influence theory to include mass media communication and the inter-objectivity of artefacts. We (...) need to be able to conceptualize the modalities of why, how and to what effect somebody might put up a wall to influence neighbours instead of contenting themselves with putting up a public note ‘Do not trespass!’. Social influence by fait accompli needs to be within the remit of social psychology, otherwise it loses its relevance in a technological society where artefacts mediate most inter-personal relations. (shrink)

In der Theologie wird Habermas oftmals mit einer gewissen Skepsis begegnet, da seine Einstellungen gegenuber der Religion durchaus kontrovers sind. Sie haben sich bis in die Gegenwart hinein stetig weiterentwickelt, so dass sein Werk insgesamt bedeutende Potentiale hinsichtlich der gesellschaftlichen Rolle von Religion birgt - und daruber hinaus auch hinsichtlich derjenigen von Bildung. Daniel Tobias Bauer rekonstruiert beide Entwicklungslinien bis in die Gegenwart hinein und uberfuhrt sie in den praktisch-theologischen Diskurs. Dies geschieht methodisch anhand Habermas' These, dass bedeutende geistesgeschichtliche (...) Begriffe ursprunglich in der Religion verankert waren und nur aus dieser Verwurzelung heraus gegenwartig angemessen zu verstehen sind. So wird das semantische Potential des Bildungsbegriffs aus seiner Verwurzelung in der Religion erschlossen, hermeneutisch reflektiert und der Bezug sowohl auf Habermas' Bestimmungen als auch auf die gegenwartige praktisch-theologische Diskurslage aufgezeigt. (shrink)

Discussions of the relationship between consciousness and language are troubled by simplistic views of both. Denying a central role of consciousness in linguistics is commonplace in generative linguistics, but self-contradictory. On the other hand, a defence of consciousness by some cognitive and functional linguists is marred by a conflation of consciousness with 'introspection'. I argue for the need to distinguish (at least) between three kinds of acts of consciousness: observation, introspection and intuition, where the last one is based on intersubjectively (...) binding social norms. It is intuition that is the most fundamental form of consciousness for the study of language, from antiquity to the present. Furthermore, I show how the three modes of (linguistic) consciousness are related, by defining empathy (as used e.g. in typological explanations) as vicarious introspection, and intuition as conventionalized empathy. (shrink)

In this article, our aim is to examine the place of “reality” in Richard Rorty’s thought in view of the important and key discussion of language in the philosophy of this thinker. In other words, we know that with the occurrence of the “linguistic turn” in the middle of the twentieth century, the relationship between language and reality has become one of the central debates of philosophy, especially analytical philosophy, and has become of particular importance. Is it language that determines (...) the external reality for us? Is knowing the world outside the mind possible only through the possibilities that language gives us? And to what extent does the structure of language affect our cognitive pattern? These are only a part of the linguistic concerns that have occupied the minds of contemporary philosophers. The main concern and problem of the present article, which has been approached using a descriptive-analytical method, is to examine the relationship between language and reality in Richard Rorty’s thought and to show how he defends the linguistic structure of having reality. Rorty, following an analytical philosophy that, in addition to detailed analyses of traditional philosophical concepts, like the concepts of truth, meaning, necessity, etc. and by changing the discussion from experience to discussion from language in the direction of pragmatizing the basic principles of positivism, believes that it is trans-lingual and trans-temporal. The common denominator that Plato found in the outside world and transferred to man in the Cartesian-Kantian tradition is sought in analytic philosophy in language, and so analytic philosophers continue to pursue the traditional philosophy project of providing a trans-historical and eternal framework for the accurate representation of the world. Rorty tries to overcome this view of analytical philosophers with a Darwinist and pragmatic view of language and under the influence of philosophers such as Wittgenstein.For Darwinists, language is a tool among other tools that gives its users the ability to better and more efficiently adapt to their environment and meet their needs. For the likes of Wittgenstein and like-minded people, despite their many and sometimes profound differences, language had an important and pivotal place with its eventual and possibility feature. Influenced by thinkers such as Wittgenstein, and in the context of his Darwinist and pragmatic approach to language, Rorty attributes certain characteristics to language that can be said to influence his whole thought. Firstly, he considers language as a tool like other tools and, therefore, considers it to have no fixed nature and identity. Given that it is not possible to leave the language and on the other hand language has a poetic and metaphorical character, the function of language cannot be a representation of reality and reality can never be available to us naked and as independent of language and descriptions. Therefore, from Rorty’s point of view, reality is a linguistic and constructed matter of language that we humans have invented in cooperation with each other and in accordance with our historical-cultural situation and needs. Of course, Rorty’s point in saying that reality is made by language is by no means that we create reality arbitrarily and as we wish; rather, what is happening is that we are responding to an external stimulus, a response of various sentence types that manifests itself as linguistic reactions. (shrink)

In the past decade, digital technology, fiber optics, cellular phones, satellite television, home computers, and the Internet have substantially transformed business, education, and leisure practices. These technologies are becoming so integrated into our daily routines that their ubiquity often goes unnoticed. We are, nonetheless, in the midst of a telecommunications revolution, and the healthcare industry is becoming a major player. The burgeoning field of home-based telemedicine is evidence of this.

Third World debt, seen as distant from the realm of international affairs and ethics, is often subject to abstract economic analysis. Bauer argues that the way in which debt is addressed by debtors and lenders is heavily politicized and should be subjected to ethical scrutiny.

In this article, I argue that Gandhi can prefer violence in cases, but still morally object to all forms of violence. Even though this can seem to be a contradiction, nonetheless, one can prefer an action without thinking that action is morally justified. Next, I explore the objection that preferring a violent act, such as violent self-defense, over a act that is not violent, such as running away, seems to prefer an action that is more violent to one that is (...) less violent. I argue that because Gandhian nonviolence is a much broader concept than simple "no violence," violent self-defense is actually closer to a nonviolent act than running away. This is done by making a distinction between nonviolence (positive state of love and virtue) and un-violence (simple lack of physical violence). (shrink)

Heft 1. Über Intention, reine Absicht und Wahrhaftigkeit.--Heft 2. Von der Ehe.--Heft 3. Erlaubtes und verbotenes Gut.--Heft 4. Vom Gottvertrauen.

Esbozamos los elementos de un nuevo modelo conceptual para entender desde la perspectiva latinoamericana qué ocasiona el desbalance entre naturaleza y sociedad y vislumbrar así las verdaderas oportunidades y amenazas de soslayar el abismo entre lo ambiental y lo social al integrar efectivamente desarrollo y conservación. Como propuesta teórica endógena compatible con la perdurabilidad del bienestar humano y producto de 10 años de investigación en el medio rural latinoamericano (sur), presentamos al enfoque Conservación Integral Alternativa. En este artículo además de (...) considerar los temas de pobreza, población y neoliberalismo, entre otros, redefinimos los conceptos de desarrollo sustentable, diversidad biocultural y conservación biológica; los que, analizados a la luz de valores ancestrales, acumulación de riqueza, agricultura para la vida y políticas ambientales, arrojan un panorama diferente de la visión convencional de la conservación. (shrink)

Journal of Applied Philosophy, EarlyView.

Experimenters claim some nonhuman mammals have metacognition. If correct, the results indicate some animal minds are more complex than ordinarily presumed. However, some philosophers argue for a deflationary reading of metacognition experiments, suggesting that the results can be explained in first-order terms. We agree with the deflationary interpretation of the data but we argue that the metacognition research forces the need to recognize a heretofore underappreciated feature in the theory of animal minds, which we call Unity. The disparate mental states (...) of an animal must be unified if deflationary accounts of metacognition are to hold and untoward implications avoided. Furthermore, once Unity is acknowledged, the deflationary interpretation of the experiments reveals an elevated moral standing for the nonhumans in question. (shrink)

After decades of specialization within the sciences, the development and application of implantable microchips and biosensors are now being made possible by a growing convergence among seemingly disparate scientific disciplines including, among others, biology, informatics, chemistry, and engineering. This convergence of diverse scientific disciplines is the basis for the creation of new technologies that will have significant medical potential. As of today, implantable microchips and biosensors are being used as mental prostheses to compensate for a loss of normal function, to (...) remotely monitor patients' vital signs, to control the delivery of medications, and to communicate with geographically distant healthcare professionals and the outside environment. (shrink)